Environmental and Socio-Economic Changes in the Rural Andes: Human Resilience and Adaptation Strategies - Impact of Global Changes on Mountains: Responses and Adaptation - page 421

In contrast, when the cold La Niña -current reaches the Pacifi c shore, the
reverse situation can be observed in the Andean realm. It is obvious that
this pattern leads to temporary changes and adjustments of fi eld cultivation
and pastoralism.
The current debate focuses on the impact of 'global warming' of
mountain environments. In the tropical Andes, the recent high rates of
glacier melting have short-and long-term repercussions on the environment
and society. If the smaller snow- and ice-caps of mountains are disappearing,
indigenous people are experiencing a spiritual loss. A further grave social
and economic consequence is the diminution or disappearance of melt
water, most acutely felt during the dry seasons, with shortages becoming
increasingly problematic for drinking water supplies, sanitation and
irrigation-based agriculture. In the case of larger glaciated regions, this may
not yet be a problem; but on a longer term, the situation may also become
critical. The threat of a looming water scarcity will put many valley- and
lower elevation regions with a perennial cultivation of products for national
and global markets at risk. A similar problem may develop in the case
of seasonally irrigated Altiplano pastures, especially for the wool-based
economy of lamas and alpacas. The growing competition for water will
likely also exacerbate the socio-economic disparities between 'water-rich'
landowners and households on the one hand, and the 'water-poor' small
farmers and marginalized households. It will furthermore accentuate the
water distribution debate opposing urban and rural water requirements. The
water issue will entail various adaptation strategies for Andean agriculture;
it will further highlight regional development programs with a focus on a
wise and sustainable use of water, and will necessitate a new 'generation'
of agrarian reforms with the objective of a more equitable access to and
distribution of rural water.
Socio-economic Changes
While until recently global changes in mountain regions have been closely
linked to climate changes, it is argued here, that cultural, social, economic,
and political changes affecting even formerly remote mountains, may have
at least an equally profound and often more immediate impacts. Under the
infl uence of ubiquitous economic and social modernization processes of the
rural population, the agrarian structures, for the most part, have undergone
profound transformations. Indigenous communities, in particular, are facing
the challenges of remaining attached to their traditions, while at the same
time being confronted with the opportunities and challenges of innovations
and modernization (Stadel 2003). The new imperatives of capital- and
market orientation promoted by governments, wealthy landowners and
large corporations have changed the production forms, economic strategies